Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Nursing - Essay Example There is progress, but it is considered to be a very slow trend which needed to be sped up to deliver the potential gains of the strategy (Department of Health, August 2010). An aspect of the End of Life Care Strategy wherein the Department of Health focused on its initial implementation is the care planning (inclusive of assessment) which comes after the identification of people approaching the end of life and will follow the step of coordination of care in the care pathway. It is also where nurses, being part of the multidisciplinary health care team, have active involvement whether working in hospitals or in community settings, more particularly in assessing the patient and the family regarding their needs, wishes and preferences, and is involved in initiating reviews of the care plan to the team if with patient’s permission, thus influenced the selection of the strategy’s aspect to be discussed by this paper. This will explore the implications of the care planning a spect for community heath care providers (nurses in particular), service users (patients) and significant others (family and carers). Community Health Care Providers The Strategy will give emphasis on the nurses’ role in assessment and documentation of patient’s needs, wishes and preferences in addition to her roles regulated by international, national and local policies during the end of life care. As per the code in Nursing & Midwifery Council (2008), nurses are responsible in gaining patient’s trust, treating them as individuals, respecting their dignity, working with others, providing high standard of care, being open and honest, acting with integrity and uphold reputation of profession. This will require nurses to assess and record the needs, wishes, preferences and agreed set of actions of the dying patient (advanced decisions, where to die, etc.) and to participate with the review of the care plan. An example is the Advanced Decisions to Refuse Treatment as a valid and applicable legally-binding document where the nurse is obligated to follow the physicians’ order to withhold life-preserving treatment as stated therein (NHS, 2010). Other options to be considered are the advanced statement and the DNACPR (Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation). Service Users (Patients) The care planning of the Strategy aims to enforce assessment and recording of needs, wishes and preferences of patients undergoing their end of life. This will grant patients with greater autonomy in making decisions for their own health, including decisions on where they would like to die. Moreover, it will enforce the community health care providers to assess and record their needs, wishes and preferences even if the patient or family have not yet initiated the discussion of these matters, thereby raising patient’s awareness on his treatment options. The Strategy slightly decreased the number of patients dying at the hospital and die at home inst ead by offering the patient an option to die at home instead (Department of Health, August 2010). Significant Others Families and/or carers of the patient in end of life are also included with the care planning of the Strategy in terms of reviewing the care plan, yet not as specific as the